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The Cheesecake Factory calculates a range of suggested gratuity on its receipts that is between 15% and 22% of a bill's total. When those bills are split between multiple parties, the suggested gratuity remains the same — even though each customers' portion of the bill is smaller.

Under this system, Gordman says he was tricked into paying a 40% tip on his portion of a bill during a visit to the restaurant chain. He owed $38.50 for his portion of the bill, and he chose to give a 20% tip — which the receipt told him was $15.40.

But that calculation was based on the bill's total cost, so he ended up unknowingly paying a 40% tip for his meal.

The lawsuit claims this is standard practice at more than 200 Cheesecake Factory restaurants.

In a statement on the lawsuit, a Cheesecake Factory representative told BuzzFeed News that its gratuity recommendations are "suggestions only" and "guests are free to tip as they please."